


cut out all the ropes and let me fall

by serenitysea



Series: paper wings; the skyeward college au [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Love Triangles, SNAFU, fitz puts it all on the line, skye is stubborn as the day is long, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3418715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysea/pseuds/serenitysea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>aka: the one where skye leaves a particularly worded note on jemma’s car and everything falls apart.</p><p>part of the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2568770/chapters/5714132">college au</a> series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cut out all the ropes and let me fall

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is part of the college au series - previously only posted on my tumblr. i thought it might be nice to add it on ao3 to round out the series. 
> 
> i recommend reading the series or at least [the scene in chapter nine](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2568770/chapters/6331505), where skye and grant talk about what jemma and fitz did -- otherwise you might be lost!

*  
  
It should have gone differently.   
  
Then again, they probably should have just told her the truth.   
  
(And then maybe none of them would be in this predicament.)  
  
*   
  
Skye has been stuck in a funk all day.   
  
She’s tried everything to get out of it.   
  
She went for a (power) walk. Tried her hand at baking (total _disaster_ ). Caught up on all of her reading. Went strolling down main street to wander the local shops. Attempted some writing but when even _that_ failed her, knew she had to take drastic measures.   
  
Lately it’d seemed like things were a bit strained between her and Fitz and Jemma.   
  
After their not-a-date (seriously Fitz, be _more_ _obvious_ about how much you wanted to keep your arm around her) and how _odd man out_ it left her feeling, she had been kind of avoiding them.   
  
It was one thing to feel wanted but quite another entirely to feel like you were wanted as a third wheel to be a buffer between two people who couldn’t figure out what they wanted to be to each other.   
  
She’s tired of being used that way.   
  
She wants them to just _call it_. Just _be_ what you _are_ , already. Stop dancing around it like it isn’t a thing.   
  
Her phone lights up and it’s Phil calling. Probably wondering where she is.   
  
She can’t handle it right now.   
  
She drives to the beach and watches the waves where the boards sink lower than the rails. When her mom had been alive, they spent their summers here at the beach. She doesn’t come in the summer anymore. It hurts too much.   
  
That line of thought is depressing and a road she doesn’t want to go down, so she reaches for her phone and texts Jemma.  
  
[ _do you want to grab a bite or something?_ ]  
  
Jemma takes a while to respond. [ _busy, can’t. sorry. raincheck?_ ]  
  
Skye rolls her eyes. Typical.   
  
She puts the car in gear and heads back to town.  
  
At least Fitz will be good company. Maybe she can kick his ass at Mario Kart for the next two hours. Anything to get this hollow feeling away from her.    
  
*  
  
She turns down the street and automatically starts looking for parking — so she doesn’t notice it at first.   
  
Jemma’s car.   
  
Jemma is there.   
  
Jemma is with Fitz.   
  
On _Family Night_.   
  
Only Skye has ever been there for Family Night before and it’s not something she made a habit of.   
  
Family Night is serious. Family Night is — for _girlfriends_.   
  
That’s _it_. She’s so effing _done_.   
  
She wrenches the wheel and pulls over sharply, nearly taking out the side mirrors on Jemma’s car.   
  
There’s a pen and paper in her hand and —   
  
  
_busy, huh? i’m sick and tired of this. we’re done._   
  
  
There’s no need to sign it because Jemma knows her handwriting and there is only one person who would leave a note like that.   
  
She slaps it on the windshield, tucking it under the wiper and drives away.   
  
*   
  
The note is not, unsurprisingly, well received.   
  
But she stands her ground. Skye declares that she will only spend time with Fitz or Jemma if she can do so separately.   
  
She refuses to be around the two of them when they are together. It makes for an even more awkward relationship between the three of them but she just can’t handle it anymore.   
  
And it probably would have been okay — they were getting into an awkward sort of rhythm and working out a weird enough schedule that was starting to work, despite the odds —   
  
— Except Fitz goes and puts it all out on the line.  
  
"You’re _more_ than that to me, Jemma.”   
  
And everything implodes.   
  
*  
  
Jemma panics.   
  
"I can’t _think_ straight, Skye! Can’t you just _talk_ to him and —”   
  
"— _No_.” Skye hangs up the phone, tossing it on her bed.   
  
Then she takes a deep, fortifying breath and walks into Phil’s office. “I want to go to that school in New York.”   
  
Phil glances up from his paperwork and must see something in her body language, because for _once_ he does not argue. “Okay. I’ll make a call.”   
  
She blinks back the angry tears burning behind her eyes and turns to walk away.   
  
"Skye, are you —"   
  
"— I’m fine," she answers, and it’s a familiar enough response that she can automatically change the inflection so that it resembles normalcy. (So that he doesn’t know how everything is crumbling and breaking down inside of her.)   
  
"Everything is fine," she puts her hand to her mouth to hold back the gasping sob that wants to break free. Takes a minute to get her breathing under control before she trusts her face enough to turn around and smile bravely at her uncle.   
  
He looks at her with some kind of softness in his eyes and comes out from around his desk to hug her awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” Phil says quietly.   
  
They both know he’s talking about more than just this cluster of a situation with Fitz and Jemma. (Which Phil knows about, because of _course_ he knows — he’s very good friends with Fitz’s family and Jemma had charmed the socks off of him the first time they’d met a few years ago.)   
  
(This _hurts_.)  
  
And even though they don’t do the thing where they hug a lot or she cries in front of him, Skye nods. She’s probably getting mascara on his white dress shirt, but if he doesn’t mind, she’s not going to pull away either.   
  
"Me too." Her reply is muffled into his chest.   
  
Phil presses a kiss to the top of her head and guides her into the living room, onto the couch. “Take a rest, Skye.” When she looks up at him, he raises his eyebrows firmly. “Just close your eyes. Twenty minutes.”   
  
So she closes her eyes and rests. She sleeps.  
  
Until the next day, when she discovers that Phil has started packing up her things already and made a detailed list of what is in each box.   
  
He shrugs. “I figured you’d want to go quickly.”   
  
In that moment, she has never loved her uncle more.   
  
"Thanks," she mumbles, trying to swallow the lump of emotion in her throat. "I’m gonna take a quick shower and I’ll give you a hand with that."   
  
"I pulled some strings, so you already have a dorm room." Phil nods slowly. "We can probably be on the road as early as tonight."   
  
It is the best news she has heard in months.   
  
"Thank you." A very real, tremulous smile breaks across her face. It almost feels foreign, but she keeps it there as long as she can stand it.  
  
Phil goes back to packing and Skye waits until she’s round the corner to press her back against the wall and muffle the jagged cry that is tearing her heart in two.   
  
Everything is changing again, so fast and she knows it’s for the best.   
  
She has to _run_ and she has to get out of here and she _never_ wants to look back.

*

**Author's Note:**

> \+ [tumblr](http://b-isforbombshell.tumblr.com)  
> \+ lyrics from _skinny love_.


End file.
